I. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a mounting bracket for maintaining a wall-mounted bath accessory and, in particular, to a bracket which allows sliding engagement with the accessory post to conceal the bracket within the base of the post.
II. Description of the Prior Art
Because of their weight and the weight of the items they support, wall mounted accessories must be securely mounted to the wall. Such accessories can include towel bars and rings, shelves, tumbler holders and robe hooks. The earliest accessories were mounted directly to the wall by passing fasteners through the base of the accessory. However, because these items are typically decorative, it was preferred to minimize or conceal the fasteners to provide a sleek, finished appearance. In some instances, a simple cover plate was employed to conceal the fasteners.
A popular method of mounting accessories is to first secure a mounting bracket to the wall thereafter attaching the accessory to the bracket. Such brackets may include posts or plates which are concealed by the decorative accessory. The accessory may be secured to the bracket by a single fastener typically on the underside of the accessory. However, these mounting assemblies can be cumbersome because of the size and location of these fasteners.
The present invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior known mounting brackets by providing a bracket which is concealed by the accessory post yet facilitates simple sliding engagement of the post onto the bracket.
The mounting system of the present invention includes a bracket which is fastened to a wall of the desired location and a post having a base housing with flanges to lockingly cooperate with the bracket. The mounting bracket has a substantially planar configuration with apertures for receiving fasteners to secure the bracket to a wall. The bracket includes a nose flange and a pair of tail flanges which are spaced away from the wall upon securing the bracket. An alignment groove is formed intermediate the tail flange to ensure proper alignment with the post. A pair of flexible locking fingers extend on opposite sides of the nose flange. Each of these components of the bracket are designed to cooperate with corresponding structure of the post.
The post of the accessory preferably includes a base portion having an underside cavity to receive the wall-mounted bracket such that the post base is flush to the wall. The cavity includes slots for receiving the nose and tail flanges of the bracket. The nose slot is formed in a peripheral wall of the cavity and the tail slots are formed in walls protruding into the cavity. A rib cooperates with the alignment groove to prevent rotation of the base relative to the bracket and ensure proper alignment prior to engagement. A pair of locking blocks extending into the cavity selectively engage the flexible fingers to maintain the post on the mounting bracket.
Once the post base is positioned over the mounting bracket, the base is slid laterally to insert the nose and tail flanges into respective slots. As the base is moved into position, the flexible fingers will lockingly engage the blocks to retard sliding disengagement of the post from the mounting bracket.